A Painful Process
by Punzie the Platypus
Summary: God bless you! Fishlegs gets a new stone tooth to replace the empty space in his mouth, and the three other boys watch as Gobber hammers it in. The thought of having a new tooth quickly becomes that of a nightmare as the four friends find the whole process horrifying. God bless you!


**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own How To Train Your Dragon. Here's a Fishlegs sort of centric fic, so, something somewhat out of the norm. Here we go, my FanFiction peeps!**

Hiccup's quick eyes looked about the small shabby forge, hopeful to find a large grey hammer that he needed. Astrid had asked him the day before if he could sharpen her axe and he had gladly accepted. There was just one thing about it; she was hoping to have it done for free. Hiccup, being, well, Hiccup, gladly took the job. Upon asking Gobber about it, the older blacksmith said, "Hiccup, if I tol' ya once, I tol' ya a towsand 'imes, no free joobs!"

While Gobber had gone on and on on how about they would never make any money doing that, Hiccup couldn't help but think that Astrid deserved a free job, it was her, after all, who helped him win against the Queen Dragon. And so here he was now, he had timed everything perfectly so that while Gobber went to have his usual cup of mead in Mead Hall, he had just enough time to sharpen the blade. Of course, just because he had killed a dragon didn't mean that he had gotten over being clumsy. In his haste, he had dropped the axe, having the head of it clunk against the work bench and it nearly got knocked off.

So here he was now, trying to find a hammer to nail the large metal nail that had been loosened back into the head of the axe. Upon turning to his left, he found the hammer sitting motionlessly on a stool, not that he had thought that it would move, it was a hammer, after all.

Hiccup picked up the mighty weapon and laid it next to the axe on the work bench. Carefully arranging the axe into the right position, he grabbed the handle of the hammer. Grunting heavily at the weight, he heaved it with both hands and was about to have to fall on the nail when a cheery voice rang out, "Hey, Hiccup!"

Hiccup had had his back to the door, and upon hearing a voice, he gave a little screech and let the tool drop on the floor, nearly striking his big toe. He turned to see Fishlegs cringing at the sight. The blonde then straightened and asked, "You scream like a girl?"

"Oh, geez, Fishlegs! You scared me!" Hiccup gasped. The fishbone leaned against the bench and retorted, trying to catch his breath, "I DO NOT scream like a girl!"

"Oh, yeah you do," Fishlegs pointed out.

"Do not! It's just high pitched!" Hiccup said in defense. He sighed and turned back to the axe. Fishlegs, a bit curious, walked over to the bench and slowly stroked the axe handle thoughtfully. Hiccup gave him an indignant look. Fishlegs ignored him and asked, "Why were you hiding this?"

"I-I wasn't hiding it!" Hiccup immediately stammered.

"Then why did you act so surprised when I came in?" Fishlegs asked in a knowing voice.

"I wasn't . . . expecting anyone!" Hiccup waved his hands around in emphasis.

"You thought I was Gobber?" Fishlegs asked. When Hiccup hesitated, the blonde added, "You're a horrible liar."

"Okay, I did. I was fixing this axe for Astrid for free," Hiccup confessed. Turning slightly to the hammer, he roughed up his hair for a moment and asked sheepishly, "Hey, Legs, do you think that you could hammer in that nail for me?"

"Too heavy?" Fishlegs smirked.

"No, it's just that . . . . um," Hiccup turned to the shop and flung his arms out, nearly hitting Fishlegs, "I have all THIS to do!"

"You are a horrible liar, Hiccup," Fishlegs informed the boy again cheerfully as he reached for the hammer. Hiccup sighed and propped his head on his fist, which was on the bench, "Is it that obvious?"

"Um, sorry, but it kinda is," the blonde answered. With a few blows of the hammer, the nail was driven back into place, much to Hiccup's relief.

With a small 'thank you', Hiccup grabbed the hammer and nearly dragged it to the sharpening wheel. Fishlegs took a seat on one of the big stools in the shop while Hiccup tried to find his pedal. His prosthetic eventually found it, and he started to make it go up and down. The heavy wheel started turning and biting his tongue in concentration, he slowly let the blade glide across the surface. Sparks began to fly as he slowly led it along the wheel.

"So, Legs," Hiccup finally said loudly after realizing a horrible awkward silence was starting to roll around, "why'd you come here?"

The nerd had been relaxing on his seat with his shoulder sagging and his hands absently drumming on his knees. At hearing the question, he straightened up and hopped off the stool and to the sharpening wheel. He stood close enough for Hiccup to hear him and yet far away enough to not get scorched by a runaway spark. An excited smile crossed his face as he drew his hands together like he always did when he was excited, "Guess what I'm getting when Gobber comes back this afternoon?"

Hiccup let a breath escape him as he kept his eye on the axe. Shrugging his thin shoulders, he answered, "No idea."

"Well, look at this!" Fishlegs replied. He opened his large mouth even wider, stretching his jaws and showing off his rows of teeth. Instead of the usual yellow and oddly shaped teeth that most Vikings had, Fishlegs had two rows with straight teeth and they were only the slightest shade of beige.

Hiccup quickly groaned and complained, "Geez, Legs, your breath stinks!"

"Not my breath, Hiccup, look!" Hiccup sighed and stopped pumping with his leg. Setting down the axe carefully, he turned to Fishlegs and looked where the boy was pointing. In his mouth, one of Fishlegs' fingers pointed out a blank space along his gums. Upon closer examination, Hiccup saw that the boy had a lost canine.

"Okay, you lost one of your teeth, and you're happy about that?" Hiccup wondered. Losing grown up teeth was not that much of a deal around here. Bar fights broke out nearly every day, as a matter of fact, the day just wouldn't be right unless someone got punched in the head while drunk. It wasn't that unusual.

Hiccup picked up the axe and swung it around a bit to test it, flinging it accidentally into the wall of the forge. Both boys let out a little hiss as it collided into the wall. Wiping the hair out of his face, Hiccup trudged to the wall and started to pull the axe out, cursing occasionally as he do so.

"Well, I'm getting a stone tooth today!" Fishlegs announced excitedly.

"Um, okay, good for you, LEGS!" Hiccup yelled. The axe's blade was stuck in the stone walls, making the poor excuse for a Viking look even worse. Spitting a wad of spit into his small hands, he plastered them onto the wooden handle and groaned, trying still to make it budge.

"Thanks, you'll be there, right?" Fishlegs asked hopefully.

"Um, Legs, it isn't like it's a ceremony or anything," Hiccup pointed out. Fishlegs sighed and crossed the room to the axe. Absentmindedly pushing Hiccup gently aside, the larger teen, with the smaller one watching, pulled out the weapon with one hand without the slightest bit of effort. Pushing it into Hiccup's stunned hands, he sighed again and said, "I just thought since we were friends, you'd be there, you know, it'll be fun, you know?"

"Yeah, sure," Hiccup said absently. He tossed the axe carefully back and forth between his hands. While the weight was evenly distributed and the blade was definitely sharp, he had a large dent in the wall now to explain to Gobber. Hiccup looked up from the weapon to see his friend walking out of the forge, shoulders slumped.

Hiccup immediately ran after him. Catching him before he was able to leave, Hiccup caught his attention with, "Oh, come on, Fishlegs, of course I'm coming. Around five-ish?"

Fishlegs' face brightened and he answered, "Yep, around that time!" As a friendly gesture, he slapped Hiccup on the back. Hiccup winced at the large boy's strength, nearly dropping the precious piece of metal.

"See you there!" Fishlegs ran to his house and called over his shoulder. Hiccup gave him a little wave before he turned his back and winced, touching the bruise that would surely form there. Holding the axe with one hand, he slowly made his way back into the forge. Setting the axe down, he stretched his back. In the process of doing so, he cracked his back, making him wince once again.

"Vell, what are ya doin' knew?" Hiccup winced for the umpteenth time that afternoon, and turned to see Gobber standing in the doorway. Folding his arms the best he could with having one with a mug attachment, the blacksmith dubbed a snarl and said monotonously, "Vell?"

"I'm going to have to do more work today, aren't I?" Hiccup asked. He knew the rules for stuff around here. Gobber might have the heart of a sympathetic parent, but he was very strict about the few rules he had around.

"Yep, yeah, ya vill."

* * *

That afternoon, after delivering Astrid her newly sharpened axe which had earned him a punch on the arm for being late and a kiss for everything else, Hiccup found himself settling down on a seat in the forge between Snotlout and Tuffnut. Fishlegs had found a seat a few feet away from them, leaving Hiccup slouching so that Snotlout could call over to him.

"Where are the girls?" Snotlout called over to Fishlegs. The blonde shrugged unknowingly. Tuffnut sighed and slouched, his long gangly hands dripping from his sides, "Dragon Breath is doing some girly stuff with Astrid."

"What technically qualifies as 'girly stuff'?" Hiccup wondered, using air quotations while speaking.

"Um, dude, we're guys, we're not supposed to want to know," Snotlout informed him.

"Ruff told me once, and I nearly hurled," Tuffnut said.

Fishlegs started to look nervous as he asked, "What, what did she say?"

"Well," Tuffnut sat up straight and said in a dramatic voice, "she said..."

Fishlegs started to whimper as the clouds in the sky started to cover the blue expanse. Snotlout gulped and started to cling to Hiccup's vest hurriedly. Hiccup groaned, annoyed, and tried to shove his cousin off as Tuffnut continued, "THAT THEY WENT TO PICK FLOWERS!"

"Ahhh!" Fishlegs screeched. Snotlout only clung to Hiccup's vest all the more, whispering, "The horror!" Hiccup rolled his eyes at the frightened looks both boys portrayed. Tuffnut folded his arms and laid back against the bench, enjoying every minute of his glory.

Snotlout soon recovered, letting go of Hiccup's vest, to the fishbone's relief, and straightened up, saying, "We shall never speak of this again."

The three other adolescent males nodded hurriedly. Fortunately, the conversation was saved when the appendage missing blacksmith came marching in, saying, "Vell, Fishlegs, ready for yar new tooth?"

Fishlegs eagerly nodded, bouncing up and down in his seat. Gobber nodded and crossed the forge to the work bench. Reaching into his mug attachment, he pulled out a stone from it and laid it on the bench. He motioned for Hiccup to join him as he bent down to examine the rock. Hiccup sighed to himself as he used his long arms to push himself off of the stool and over to Gobber. Apparently when he had agreed to come, he had also volunteered to help with the dental procedure. The blacksmith tossed the raw material to him and pointed to the sharpening stone.

Fishlegs opened his mouth wide and Gobber carefully examined the area where the tooth was missing. Hiccup watched the both of them intently as he started the large stone. It started to spin in motion as Gobber stroked his chin and called over his shoulder, "Aye, make it about 'alf an inch wide."

Hiccup gave him a slight nod and slowly kissed the moving rapidly stone with the smaller one. Snotlout and Tuffnut stretched closer as Hiccup slowly turned the smaller stone. The pebble slowly but surely shrunk to a smaller size. Its sides grew smoother and less rough as it grew into less of a rock and more into a tooth.

Hiccup finally stopped pumping, causing the large circular rock to slowly crawl to a stop. He held the smaller tooth-like stone close to his eye and inspected it. Upon his inspection, he gave a slow nod and said in a serious tone, "How does this look?"

Gobber turned and Hiccup tossed it to him. Catching it, Gobber let it rest in his palm as he drew closer to a light. His head nodded with a smile and he replied, "Aye, that's aboot right."

Hiccup scrambled to his seat and Gobber reached for a small mallet. All four boys gulped as Gobber looked from Fishlegs and the mallet with a huge grin.

Fishlegs was visibly shaken at the sight. "Um, Gobber, is this safe?"

"Ahh, this?" Gobber held up the mallet in all its pain inflicting glory. "Safest thing in da world!"

"I am really starting to question your idea of safety," Fishlegs gulped. The three in the audience couldn't help but back away as much as they could when Gobber turned and walked to Fishlegs, his mighty peg leg making a loud _thump _with every step. All the fun of Fishlegs getting a new stone tooth (which Hiccup never thought would be fun in the first place), was quickly sucked out of their systems.

"'Old still, Fishlegs," Gobber grinned. Fishlegs smiled nervously and opened his mouth wide. Hiccup, Snotlout and Tuffnut each held a frightened look as Gobber carefully placed the tooth in place.

"Ah, Gwobber, is all dis necessary?" Fishlegs asked, his voice filled with anxiousness.

"Vell, this is better than it fellin' out e'vryday like mine," Gobber pointed out.

"Um, actwually-" Fishlegs tried to interrupt but Gobber interrupted him with, "Vider, Fishlegs!"

Fishlegs gulped and stretched his jaws wider. The three in the background each held their breath absentmindedly as Gobber raised the mallet. Fishlegs' eyes widened even more as Gobber brought the mallet down.

Hiccup, Tuffnut and Snotlout all winced as a scream came out of Fishlegs' mouth. Gobber looked carefully at the tooth and declared, "Ah, needs more."

With that, Fishlegs received another blow to his new tooth.

"This was probably not a good idea," Snotlout groaned, "let's not do this again."

"Agreed," both boys quickly answered. Another pain-filled yell came from Fishlegs' direction and Gobber yelled, "'Old still, Fishlegs!"

"Oh, this is so nasty!" Hiccup groaned. All three covered their eyes when a small drop of blood emerged from Fishlegs' gum.

"Cool is a better word for it!" Tuffnut said. The twin instantly cringed when he sneaked another peek at the scene.

"This is cool? This is sick!" Snotlout yelled above the blonde's screaming.

"Finally, someone who agrees with me!" Hiccup said loudly.

"How have you lived in Berk your whole life and only consider this sick?" Tuffnut wondered.

"Because that's Fishlegs, for pete's sake!" Snotlout replied. All three boys finally, and cautiously, opened their eyes when Fishlegs' voice became softer and became a slight whimper. They slowly slipped off their stools and approached him carefully. Gobber smiled at the success and went to wash off his mallet.

"Hey, man, are you all right?" Snotlout asked wonderingly. The three boys surrounded the blonde, who drew his mouth opened. Aside from a few disgusted noises from Hiccup and Snotlout, the boys were pretty impressed. The grey pebble was inserted firmly into his slightly bleeding gum.

"Vell, I ken beary talk and my 'outh is num," Fishlegs made a point to say, "'ut, I 'hink I okay."

"Man, what you need is a rock to the head," Tuffnut suggested. Hiccup looked at the twin with a disturbed look on his face while Fishlegs' became the face of horror.

Snotlout quickly explained, "You know, it'd knock you out and when you wake up, the pain will be gone."

"Na, I 'hink I okay," Fishlegs quickly confirmed. The three boys quickly stood aside when the blonde with a newly acquired tooth started to slip off of the stool. Groaning in pain, Fishlegs carefully held up his head with one hand as he used the other to hold onto things as he made his way out of the forge.

The three boys watched him disappear into the darkening village thoughtfully.

"Man, I do not EVER want to lose a tooth," Tuffnut declared.

"_I _don't ever want to, did you see that?" Snotlout asked.

"Oh, just the whole thing," Hiccup said sarcastically.

"Whoa. I'm going to go gross out Ruffnut!" Tuffnut said cheerfully as he started to sprint over to the Thorston household.

"I think I might need a bucket," Snotlout groaned to himself as he laid a fat hand over his stomach. His cheeks started to bulge, and he ran out of the forge.

"Well, I guess that leaves me to work on all the rest of the stuff," Hiccup said to himself. He turned to see the work table dripping with metal swords, axes and daggers. He sighed when a spear hit the floor and he muttered to himself, "All night long."

The following morning when the fishbone sleepily walked out of the forge, rubbing his back to try to relieve the soreness that had built up in it, he noticed Fishlegs walking slowly past the forge.

"Hey, Fish, how's the mouth?" Hiccup wondered. The blonde stopped walking and sighed slowly as he slowly stretched his jaws, revealing to a disgusted Hiccup his new tooth that was surrounded by inflated gum.

"'Ord of adhice, don't 'ose a tooth," Fishlegs warned him.

Hiccup hurriedly nodded and said, "Oh, believe me, I won't anytime soon."

**Yep, a weird plot bunny if you ask me. I hope you liked it, and please leave a review! Much love to all my peeps!**


End file.
